Seven Excellent Habits

When I went to my oldest child’s school orientation this week, they unveiled the theme phrase that will be emphasized in school this year.  It is this: Excellence is not an act but a habit.  This mantra is actually a quote from Aristotle. The full quote is "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”

Isn’t it interesting that when it comes to everything other than the faith modern people recognize the value of habit. Dentists tell you to floss everyday.  Grandma tells you that an apple a day will keep the doctor away. Coaches have you run the same play over and over again.  And as the new theme for my son’s school phrase shows, educators understand also that habitual routines are central to excellence.

When it comes to God though, somehow most of our society has decided that habits and rituals get in the way of our relationship to God.  Quite to the contrary, habits and rituals indeed are the very way that God sustains his relationship with us.  In order to help more people jump off the “relationship not religion” bandwagon to their eternal safety, I would like to discuss through a series of posts seven habits which should mark the Christian life. These are not things that one does to become a Christian (no one but God in Christ can do anything about that) but things one does because they are Christian.  In fact, I might suggest that Aristotle had it backwards. We repeatedly do what we are.

This list is not exhaustive. Feel free to add other habits in the comments below. But for the purposes of this series, I will discuss seven habits which mark the Christian life. They are:

1. Gathering for Divine Service
2. Praying Daily
3. Studying the Word
4. Giving Sacrificially
5. Acting in Mercy
6. Confessing Sins
7. Confessing the Faith

I hope you will come back to the blog regularly to see the discussion of each habit.